Samsung's Moon shot explained: Scene Optimizer plus Super resolution and AI magic

16 March 2023
Is Samsung's Moon shot feature fake? What even is fake these days?

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MrezaMirali, 17 Mar 2023Yes, we can somehow say it's a gimmick but galaxy is b... moreI'm inclined to believe that Huawei has been doing exactly what Samsung does, way before Samsung has even started it. This is Huawei's official statement regarding the moon mode controversy all the way back in 2019:

"It does not in any way replace the image – that would require an unrealistic amount of storage space since AI mode recognizes over 1,300 scenarios. Based on machine learning principles, the camera recognizes a scenario and helps to optimize focus and exposure to enhance the details such as shapes, colors, and highlights/lowlights."

Apparently they "enhanced details" with "machine learning" and does not directly "replace" the image, which is perfectly in line with what Samsung does and is criticised for.

    • M
    • Marco
    • rp6
    • 17 Mar 2023

    This article and many people who comment miss a critical part of the testing / demonstration: A half Moon was also shot but the Galaxy did zero enhancement. This so-called artificial intelligence is really not that smart. And this also shows that it is just putting a good quality image in place of the low quality image.

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • xjH
      • 17 Mar 2023

      Conclusion: fake & unethical.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • rp6
        • 17 Mar 2023

        MrezaMirali, 17 Mar 2023Yes, we can somehow say it's a gimmick but galaxy is b... moreIt’s proved? Where? Can you this so-called proof?

        Other objects? What other objects are as far away as the Moon?

          • M
          • Marco
          • rp6
          • 17 Mar 2023

          To claim this is enhanced by AI is quite misleading and is a way to not admit reality, which is they are totally fake. If you are in front of a well known spot then take a picture that is totally blurry, then use your phone to find on the internet an excellent quality image of this spot then download it, will you say the excellent image has been taken by your phone?

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 61B
            • 17 Mar 2023

            SuuperBaka, 17 Mar 2023"Imagine the energy wasting of complaining about a fea... moreEvery phone have AI-enhancement feature. Get your facts straight. 👍

            Are you living in 2010?

              SuuperBaka, 17 Mar 2023Apparently, the OP on Reddit did another test where they ad... moreYes, we can somehow say it's a gimmick but galaxy is but galaxy is not replacing a preeshot moon image and it's proved, and to be honest it's not limited to the moon. You can take vivid pictures from every scene or object. Contains rebuilding text building and... algorithm, it's not as bad as other brand ( huawei...) which brings a token picture on the moon
              And also i believe that more 30x zoom(with 10 times telephoto)is not useful

                Anonymous, 17 Mar 2023Imagine the energy wasting of complaining about a feature e... more"Imagine the energy wasting of complaining about a feature every smartphone has👍"

                Imagine defending something that is so clear-cut. Also, this isn't a feature every smartphone has so why are you lying?

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • gDf
                  • 17 Mar 2023

                  Maybe the best video I have seen by Tony Northrup: youtu.be/R_xf2TKU7ic

                  He shows that Samsung's moon photos actually have craters that the real moon does not have and he shows that Samsung's camera doesn't just fake the moon, but also other objects (by the way, I know that iPhones have similar issues, even in the Proraw files). According to a user, some of these issues are also present with scene optimizer turned off.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • Kx4
                    • 17 Mar 2023

                    Nick Tegrataker, 17 Mar 2023There's a difference between selectively applying nois... moreAI-Enhancement is AI-Enhancement. The purpose of that is to make a photo looks more "beautiful" no matter by adding or removing something on the image result.

                    Even the "beautify" effect on chinese phone is worse. At least the true real moon actually has a crater etc. Samsung only makes it visible on the the image result like a moon in reality. Does the moon have blurry crater on reality? I dont think so.

                    On other side, real ugly person has acne for example and the chinese phone makes it invisible, so it doesnt represent the reality of the person's face at all, unlike on samsung's case.

                    Also, samsung also has RAW Expert app for someone who wants an image without being AI -enchanced. Any samsung user has 2 choice either to have raw/pro image or AI-enhanced image. No drama at all.👍

                    So, my comment was right at all. Some People just complain and make drama because the feature comes from the brand they don't like. Even though every brands have their own AI feature.👍

                      If I want to shoot photos at 100x zoom regardless of the subject, I get a bridge camera like Nikon Coolpix B600 or Sony RX10 Mk4 instead. That's why I still don't believe smartphone cameras can truly replace dedicated cameras, especially regarding zoom performance.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • vGE
                        • 17 Mar 2023

                        The space zoom camera is awesome. If you zoom enough then one can even see the moon landing all the way back

                          • ?
                          • Anonymous
                          • n1r
                          • 17 Mar 2023

                          If you're ok with this then why bother taking photos in the first place? Just search on Google "moon" and you'll already get to see much better photos than what AI on your phone can produce! Just download it and show it to everyone and claim that you took it!
                          Or maybe just buy a telescope if you don't wanna lie.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • n1r
                            • 17 Mar 2023

                            "Deep Learning engine, which is preloaded with a variety of moon shapes and details, will recognize the moon, then Super Resolution applies multi-frame processing to enhance the moon."

                            So basically they took picture of the moon with proper equipment and stored in on the phone's software somewhere and then using that to enhance image you took. In other words, they use data from a proper moon picture and stick it over the mediocre one you took.
                            Now wait for a moment, is this what photography was supposed to be?? I thought photography was playing with whatever data you captured with your own camera. If you're gonna take data from another photo and put it on the one you captured, then might as well not photograph it in the first place, and just look at the other one you like!

                            Is this what the OEMs are taking us towards? Maybe in future you can't photograph at all, as there will only be no proper camera but only a tiny, mediocre light sensor on your phone to just to recognize a scene/object which probably will already exist on their database due to stealing data, and AI will offer the user a preloaded image of that object/scene!

                              Anonymous, 17 Mar 2023AI-enhancing image are actually a years old feature on ever... moreThere's a difference between selectively applying noise reduction on a human face to smoothen out the details in a rather obvious way, and ADDING superfluous details into whatever a moon-esque (Doesn't even have to be the real moon to trigger this mode) object that is detected inside the frame THEN not informing users about it. Computational photography isn't a new thing, but the actual outcome of this "moon mode" processing and the way the feature was advertised were what made it questionable, because the AI is effectively reproducing the details that only existed in the very specific set of sample images used for the training.

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • gDf
                                • 17 Mar 2023

                                See reddit.com/r/GalaxyS23Ultra/comments/11pbkmm/comment/jbx0l3m/

                                , the S23 Ultra replaces windows with letters. Apparently, this also happens when scene optimizer is turned off.

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • wri
                                  • 17 Mar 2023

                                  SuuperBaka, 17 Mar 2023Apparently, the OP on Reddit did another test where they ad... moreImagine the energy wasting of complaining about a feature every smartphone has👍

                                  Next complain:
                                  Why all girl looks beautiful, skinnier and acne free on photo, must be fake photo.🤔

                                    Apparently, the OP on Reddit did another test where they added a grey square on the blurry image on the moon and the Samsung added that as a crater on the moon.

                                    So much for "enhancing" the image. It's clear that Samsung is adding detail that isn't there, there's no denying it.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • wri
                                      • 17 Mar 2023

                                      notafanboy, 16 Mar 2023What exactly is so "good" about detecting a moon ... moreWhat exactly is so "good" about detecting an ugly person's face and slapping a brightness and removing all acne on it? Just to make the ugly person looks beautiful?

                                      Can you explain the feature on your chinese phone?

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • wri
                                        • 17 Mar 2023

                                        AI-enhancing image are actually a years old feature on every smartphone.

                                        Some people start complaining depend on which brand they don't like.👍

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